Chapter 7: Shou Tucker

"So, a Psychiatrist, huh?"

Roy nodded as he stared down at the papers along his desk. He had been pushing through a lot of documents as he considered this new piece on the board. A mental health doctor showing up was a new wrinkle in his time monitoring East City. There were new personnel coming in and out of the region's capital all the time, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for a new doctor to show up.

'But a therapist,' Roy inwardly groaned, 'Sure, now you give us one. Know a lot of people who would have needed it in Ishval,' and then his frown deepened, remembering intrinsically the hot sun beating on his back as he sent hundreds of Ishvalans to their god, 'Not that I deserved one.'

"Yes," Roy answered, to which Maes Hughes whistled on the other end of the line, "He showed up last week. I haven't met him myself, but I sent Fullmetal out to him first."

"Test to make sure it was safe?" Roy almost smiled at the intelligence officer Maes clearly was. He nodded to himself, while making sure to say his next few words carefully. He knew that Maes was likely in a phone booth right now if it meant he was speaking so openly about the military possibly investigating him.

"Only to set the stage, I'm still not going for a while either. Shou Tucker is going to meet him today, and then have a full evaluation starting next week," he remembered the quiet man being slightly perturbed by the order to meet Dr. Lloyd Forger, but had acquiesced to doing so in order to meet the requirements for his license. The man had always taken a great deal of pride in his status and money and opportunities it granted him, which Roy could not fault him too much for. After all, were it not for Ishval, he'd probably have the same attitude towards his rank and the access it granted him, "I should be a bit after that."

"So did Fullmetal say anything about the guy?"

Roy felt his teeth grind for a second.

"SHE CALLED ME TALL!"

"It took a bit," Roy had to consistently remind himself that his soldier was still a teenager, a young one at that, and little petty things like height mattered a lot more to him, "But he did give me some warnings," he then remembered the more thorough intel that Edward had provided after their conversation had developed. Rather in depth biographic questions, questions about military hierarchy, any interpersonal issues with fellow officers," he let the information hang in the air for a moment, "Sounds like..."

"Investigating for dissention," and Roy nodded at his friend's observation. It was clear that this Doctor, who he could nothing but the most standard stuff for, was likely a government agent sent to monitor for possible treason among the Alchemists. After the McDougal incident, it made all the sense in the world to do it. Heck, he might have had the same idea if he was the Fuhrer right now. But still, it just made life for him more difficult.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to go in prepared to work the answers for the best possible result," Mustang sat back, and looked out the window of his office onto the parade grounds. They were lit up with the small lamps that surrounded the long courtyard, and illuminated the comings and goings of his staff and soldiers as the night grew to a close. He looked down, and suddenly saw Ms. Briar leaving the office, and he felt his jaw tighten again.

'Thank God Maes didn't hear her theory,' Roy could barely stand how Riza had taken more than a few jokes at his expense. The thought of his best friend making jokes about his sexuality alongside continuing to show off pictures of his wife and child was perhaps just a bit too much to bear. He shook his head, and sighed, 'Though I guess I have probably pushed a bit too much of the playboy stuff. I left too much up to interpretation,' he then smiled to himself, 'Besides, it might mean I can go out with "Elizabeth" a bit more.'

"Roy, you still there?" Meas's voice cut through Mustang's concentration.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Roy answered, thoughts of the blonde woman being pushed out of his head. Maes had never quite gotten why he hadn't asked Riza Hawkeye to marry him over the past half decade. The obvious answer about fraternization laws had been ignored, and Roy had understood why. There were still times where he thought about leaving the military, about heading out with Riza and just running away to a different country, away from all the thoughts and sorrow that came from Ishval. But he couldn't do that. The dead needed to be given justice, from both Amestris and from himself. And he couldn't abandon the comrades whom he had saved. Leaving would be spitting on everyone in that war, both the living and the dead, "Just thinking about how we're going to have to pull this off. I really don't like dealing with the government spying on me."

"Sounds about right," Maes then stopped, and then added, "Speaking of spying, I've been given a new assignment, and I was thinking it might mean I have to spend a couple of days over in East City."

"Really," Roy added, "Usually you just come and bother me, don't even have to give me an explanation."

"You heard about Agent Twilight?"

"The Crestan Spy?"

"That's the one," Maes's voice was deadly serious. For all their issues with the military, they were nothing if not patriots. Foreign spies, especially from near peers like Cresta, were things they had to take seriously, "He blew up a new set of radio communication equipment down in the lab outside South City."

"Damn," Roy was almost impressed, "That's a big problem," Communication was difficult in the south, with it's many valleys and canyons that caused issues laying telephone lines. Radio Equipment was proving more useful, but it was in constant need of production and innovation. A major loss of equipment could set military operations in the sector back months, "But why would you be coming here to deal with somebody who was last seen in South City."

"I got a tip that there was a strange man spotted catching a ride on a fruit truck one night across the sector border," Roy was again amazed at the information that Maes was able to use, "Might just be something, but we checked everything we know in the South, and can't seem to find anything on him. That tells me he's probably jumped to a different province."

"I can see that," Roy thought about the few reports he'd heard about Agent Twilight, "Any description on this guy?"

"Unfortunately, beyond light skin, not much," Maes sighed, "I mean, I have a few things, about our height, though he seems to have worn different sized shoes to make him appear in a range from an inch shorter to an inch taller. Most commonly he seems to have green eyes. He's been seen with other colors, but green seems most common, and I bet most of them are some kind of contact lense...and that's about all I'm pretty solid with."

"Really, not even hair color or accent?"

"Guy seems to have a real knack for hiding his hair," that did make sense, since hair was such a good way to identify individual humans, "any kind of accent he might have had he seems to have trained out of him. I don't even have a facial structure, since he seems to either hide his face, or use some kind of make up or fake fat thing to make his face look different in different situations."

"Impressive," Roy then tapped his cheek, "What about communication. You know who the head of espionage for Cresta is in Central, right?"

"Sherwood," Maes reminded him of the name of the woman who currently served as the secretary for the Crestan embassy, "It's tough. I know she's the handler for all espionage in Amestris. She knows I know. And she knows I know she knows. So she keeps almost everything under wraps. I keep an eye on her, but if I look away for a second, something will almost certainly go off. Most of my staff just isn't as observant about this stuff."

"Yeah, and most of them aren't capable of killing a spy one on one either," Roy offered.

"That's supposed to be classified," Maes groaned, "But yeah. I couldn't connect him to anything from Sherwood, but I almost had him on actual espionage on troop movement schedules for Fort Briggs. That could have been vital for Drachma. Just as I was about to get away, he got the drop on me. Luckily he thought I was just a pencil pusher, and didn't see the knife in my boot, or..."

'Or I wouldn't have gone home again,' Roy answered for him. Maes had signed up for a lot of danger, especially in supporting Roy in his plan to become the Fuhrer. But he was keenly aware how close he came at times to leaving his wife a widow.

"But, that's enough fun thoughts for today," Roy nodded as the conversation drew to an end, "I'll see you in a couple of days Roy," Roy made to set down the phone, happy to chat with his best friend, when suddenly heard from the other line, "Oh yeah, and one more thing," he picked the phone back up to his ear, "When are you going to get marrie-"

"GOODBYE!" he shouted, and slammed the phone back on the receiver.

"It's nice to meet you Major Tucker," Lloyd Forger shook the short man's hand. He was middle-aged man with receding brown hair, a large nose, and reflective glasses. He looked, even less than Ed, as though he was not at all part of the military. He seemed to be shaking slightly, as he brought his back down, and brought it to his side. This was going to be a bit less hectic, of course, because he wasn't going to have Anya here. The young girl was going to continue to study at home today, and hopefully, she'd complete her book on Amestrian history by the time he got back.

"It is nice to meet you as well," Shou responded, all the while rubbing his hands together. Lloyd knew that some people just didn't like talking, especially with new people, so this would be even harder than working with Edward, who was a fairly normal kid, who just so happened to be trying to hide some things. Shou had seemed like an extreme introvert in his profile, but some said his decision to keep to himself allowed his genius to work.

"So, this is just a preliminary evaluation," Lloyd said, making a show of flipping through the file. Shou nodded, "Please, don't stress out too much, this will be mostly setting the stage before our full evaluation soon. Feel free to be open with everything you need to say."

"Yes, of course," the fidgety man just continued to look away from Lloyd.

'This might be a bit difficult,' Twilight felt some sweat build up on the back of his head, dropping down along his hair. He was going to have to be careful not to push too many buttons if he wanted to get anything, 'What could be causing him so much stress?'

"So, is there any reason you seem so nervous?" might as well get out in front and ask it.

"I suppose, I should be honest," Shou Tucker nodded, "I suppose that it might be a bit strange, but I'm honestly nervous about the entire process. Edward mentioned speaking with you, but I am far more nervous because I just feel like I'm about to drown," Tucker stared into his hands, "I've been trying to match my success but everything I try just keeps failing."

"That can be difficult," Lloyd offered.

"I mean, most alchemic experiments are inherently failures, that's just what happens when you are pushing the boundaries of the truth," he man continued to shake, "But nothing I've done can compare to my first experiment, the one that gained me everything I have. If I don't pass this examination, I'll lose everything, my research, my funding, my house," he rubbed his head, "My house, oh, what would I tell Nina?"

"Nina?"

"She's my daughter. She and I live alone ever since my left left," Shou Tucker just shook his head, "She's the only person in the world I have left, I've devoted so much time to my research, I just haven't made many friends or connections. I think those Elric boys might just be the people I've spoken to the most over the whole of the last year besides her, and they've been researching in my library for a week."

"Well, that does seem odd," Lloyd nodded at his patient. Extreme Introversion could be a major problem for some especially for those who were afflicted with it. It was okay to prefer to be by yourself, but one couldn't allow it to dominate your life so you had no connection with other people. It lead you to appear strange, and appearing strange could lead to even further isolation from people just avoiding you. It was a dark spiral that could be extremally harmful if allowed to continue.

"Yes."

The two of them sat there for a few moments, neither of them saying anything. The only thing Lloyd could hear was the consistent ticking fo the clock behind him, and the scuffs of boots outside the door as military men marched back and forth along the hallway. Twilight decided to allow Tucker some time to let the conversation breath, hopefully, it would give him some space to lead the conversation himself. And yet, the Alchemist remained stubbornly quiet.

"I'm sorry," Shou Tucker finally added, "I'm just...I'm just so worried about my assessment. This job means so much to me, I feel like I'm really pushing myself beyond what I am, that I'm living up to my potential," He just shook his head, "And all the time I've been studying just feels like a waste. My current chimeras just aren't performing up to the request."

"Anything you feel comfortable sharing?"

"When I created the talking chimera," Shou explained, "I was able to mix enough genes from enough different creatures to create it in such a way it could form thoughts."

'"I want to die",' Twilight thought inwardly a shiver down his spine. Nasty thought, brining some creature into such a painful existence that it's only hope was the sweet release of death, 'Just terrible.'

"But I can't match it," Shou Tucker continued to shake, "And, I worry that if I can't then I never will again. I have to keep pushing myself, it's the only way I can keep up."

'Is he thinking of this like some kind of competition,' Twilight considered, 'I suppose many scientists are in competition with one another, but...this does seem even more unhealthy than the introversion.'

"I mean, you've seen the Elric brothers," Shou Tucker said, an admiration beginning to seep from his voice, "For two men so young to have already experienced so much in alchemy, to have such knowledge," a strange smile appeared on Tucker's face, "It's almost as though they have seen something that I can't even comprehend, some kind of fundamental truth that's hidden from us mere mortals. We are all watching mere shadows on a cave wall, while they have seen the fire, and are on the path to freedom beyond our mortal shakles."

"Yes," Lloyd felt the need to change the subject quickly. When people started using grandiose language like this, it tended to mean there was some kind of trouble afoot, "I actually haven't seen so much of Edward's alchemy. I've seen him change the composition of some metal, but not much beyond that."

"What he's doing isn't that unusual," Shou said with a vacant stare, "It's how he does it. He does not seem to need the symbols of the alchemic circles like the rest of us do," he seemed to get a bit closer, "Even Roy Mustang must use the symbols on the back of his gloves to perform his fire alchemy."

"That...is true," Lloyd nodded, "I always supposed that he had it on the inside of his gloves."

"Or perhaps you considered it on his Automail arm," Shou Tucker said absentmindedly. Lloyd nodded.

"Well, this will be something I have to discuss with Edward during our next session," Twilight again pulled up Tucker's file, "How about we..."

"Dr. Forger," Shou Tucker stood up, "I must get going back to my house. There is very limited time before my next assessment. I hope you do not find this too rude, but I must begin preparations before the evaluators arrive here to judge me."

"Wait," Lloyd suddenly reached out, but Shou Tucker was already moving out the door into the hallway. The man, who had only a few seconds earlier, seemed so meek, now was stubbornly refusing to listen to reason or a set up schedule, "We still have fifteen minutes."

"We can talk after the assessment," the man waved without looking back, "Once that is over, I will be in a far better headspace for a discussion."

'...Should I tail him...,' Lloyd considered, before shaking his head, 'No, not now. I have to keep up appearances. I'll go by sometime tomorrow to check in. Right now, I have to go back and check on Anya. Hopefully she has done better on her newest test.

Lloyd felt his hands shake as he looked down at the paper filled out in front of him. It had been a worksheet he had left for the girl on Amestrian history, one that she would hopefully do better on after studying all day. It was rather simple, with a final score of a number out of 50. It had been used by the same school they would be trying to get in in a few months. She'd probably need to score around a 30 to qualify...and Anya had gotten-

"A SEVEN!?"

"Studying boring," Anya was seated beneath a radio, all the while some kind of radio play about a spy investigating a gold mine owner played over the staticky machine, "Radio Fun."